Tiger King is a true anomaly. I have never seen a documentary that is as convoluted and interesting to follow; it is unlike any documentary that I have ever seen. The fact that the entire case just keeps spiraling out of control throughout the entire documentary makes each episode extremely unique.
Every character has their own crazy sense of what is actually happening at Joe Exotic’s, and all of the other big cat owners are just as insane. I have never seen so many people that are completely out of their minds. Joe Exotic is the least of my worries, though, because all of the owners are nuts and Joe is just the one who is most outspoken about it. One of the other owners, Carole Baskin, on the surface doesn’t seem very crazy and overall seems pretty rational until you hear the story of her late husband’s disappearance. That is when things hit the fan because I realized that even Carole, who acts like she is the savior of big cats, does most of the same stuff that Joe Exotic and “Doc” Antle do.
The whole story is a rollercoaster of countless twists and turns. It is clearly one of the craziest documentaries ever filmed. I almost feel like it’s not a documentary at all, but more of a reality TV show with all of the craziness involved.
Things become especially crazy when Jeff Lowe is introduced in the fifth episode, because he literally steals Joe’s zoo out from under him. The best part is that Joe stays at the zoo, pretending it’s his even though he doesn’t have it in his name anymore. The problems just keep stacking up. We haven’t even started talking about “Doc” Antle’s antics and his crazy zoo where he holds his workers captive, including his five wives.
The best thing about Tiger King is how absurd it is that there are people out there that own hundreds of big cats. Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin and “Doc” Antle are absolutely off their rocker.
Overall I truly enjoyed watching the downhill spiral that is Tiger King.